Rail joint



D...1zs,192s. Y 1,695,839

E. W. CARUTHERS RAIL JOINT Filed July 26, 1928 f6 l l f ffl V` lL/ Z p0 d Patented Dec. 18, 1928.

EUGENE, .GARUTHERS F sec-ANR., RENEW-VANI@ 1 y aan 101m..

Application filed July 26, 1928. Serial No. 295,401.

My invention relates to a splice joint for the rails of railroad tracks with particular reference to a vmethod for avoiding stresses at the ends of the rails, stresses that have hitherto been a frequent cause of ultimate rail failure. i

A purpose of my invention is to avoid stresses in the webs of railsy at the Vends ot' the railsI incident' to" rail creeping or rail det-lecunder rolling? trains,I either or both, by avoiding any engagement between the rail web and atrack'bolt close to the rail end.

further purpose lis topprovide the splice bar track bolt at'a rail'end with a larger range of clearance from the rail webl than the clearance range orthe track` bolt or bolts less near the'rail'end so stresses incident to rail creeping or rail .deflection under traveling trains wil'lbe supported" at'the track .20 bolts further from fthe rail end, thus avoiding the 'repe'atedl application of these heavy' stressesy ifi a portion'of the rail web4 i j I o Y ldent to service andappear to `haveb'een ldue toV Y is veryiolose the rail' endT VI earrythe load incident to rail creeping and rail deflectionsnpon ,a portion of the rail web that is somewhat vfromy the rail end upon thelanges of thesplice bars. f

A further purpose isto give suchclearance et the boltholes nearest the rail ,ends that splice bari,v displacements yfrom any cause whatever vvwill not cause l'engag'enfient between thlife' bolts and the wallsofthesebolt holes'.

rfic'a'tion and in the claims.

I have elected to show one form` only ofmy invention with a few minor jinfod'iiic'ation's, selecting a `form that is practical and'elicient in operation and which'well illustrates the 'principles involved i 40 Figure .1 is a side elevation intended for a cation"ofiny invention. .Y

ting ends of rails 10 and 11 are joignedby means of splice bars 12 and 13 and bolts 14, 55 15, 16and l'through perforations 18,19, 20 and 21. in ther-ail Webs. y

Obviously the location of theties or supporting'- structure is immaterial to the appli- The rail ends are seated on suitable tie plates 22 and are spiked down to the ties23 through the tie plates by spikes 24. i

All of this structure is intended for a mere conventional illustration for' any suitable o splice bar rail joint of the. prior art, and the splice bars mayv or may'not be anchoredat the rail joint to the ties.

In the pastthe'neled for a rail replacementk on al railroad has been frequently determined tlie presence-of one or more cracks orruptures 25 radiating at a rail end from' a per-foration 19- lor (Fig-ure' 1), that is near the rail end. f', f o

These cracks, or ruptures, have been incitemperature changes and to relative displacement of the partyat this Oint, It ilsace'entufated' by repeated sudden depressions of' the Frther purposes will @einer ih flircr i conventional illustration *of any'splice bar rail joint of the prior art, one of 'the splice barsv being broken away to show the trackY bolts and perforations tlfiijOllgliy the rail webs. Figure Qisa section of Figure' 1 taken upon the line 2-2 thereof. I Figures '3 to 6v are side elevations illustrating slightly different forms invention. 'Like numeralslefefio like Parts-n. all'lgures.` 7 Y i Describing in illustration and not in limitaaan and refering@ the drawings 'l ln the conventional illustration vthe "abutv4changes.

'rail ends'as trains rollover-the joint, with the 80.

jointl already f" nderv heavy tensionstresses incident 'to railI ci'"eeping1rv y v "The 'coni/*entional'jointof Figure 1 isA indicated asin this condition of tension, the railslO and-11 Ibeing'sliown as tending Yto pull 'apart away froyintl'ie joint, so that the bolts 14 and15A of therail-lO engage the edges lor" rthe aerfor-ationsl'and19 that are nearest to 'fa-the end of rail lO'iand'o'theblts'lG and 17 of rail: 1lv engage the web at the end side of theirperfoiations 2O and-21.

` *This condition. o'ftension" at a rail joint has been a requentone'after the rails have seen considerable serviceeven during theperiods when the'jointi-s not supporting a train, and 95 has usually been incident to' iail creeping.

The strains and sti-essesare 'greatly increased at such a joint during.; the time that trains are rolling'over the joint land by temperature Tlieheaviest strains during the passage of trains take place at the' rail ends' and forfthis reason the bolts 15 and 16 immediately 'badjacent the rail ends'ar'e 4subjectedtotheheav'iest y strains andvstreSS'es." l' y a train over the rail 10 results in heavy stresses in the rail web by reason of the straining engagement between the traclr bolt` 15 and the edge, usually the iorward edge of the perforation 19, and these heavy stresses many times repeated causeV -craclrs or failures, as along the lines 25.

The corresponding strains atone or more track bolts 111 further away from the rail end appear not to have resulted in sufficient dainage to the rail to be a material factor in deterniiiiing when a rail needs replacement.

However the cracks and ruptures 'from the 'torward side oi' the hole 19, incident .to the heavy and many times repeated strains upon the bolt 15, have frequently been the ultimate determining factor 'for the rail renewal.

The causes ttor rail creeping are irrelevant to the present invention which. is directed at avoiding the heavy and many times repeated stresses in the rail web at a point so yclose to the rail end as to become an ultimate deter- `mining factor for the rail renewal.

In laccord with my invention I vavoidthe rail web stresses at the holes 19 and 2O by avoiding contacts between the respective rail webs and the bolts 15 and 1G and do this by increasing` the clearance ranges of the bolts 15 and 16, (Figure 8:), from the sides of the pertorations 19 and 2O as compared to the clearance ranges of the bolts 141C and 17 from the sides of the perforations 18 and 21 respectively, or by slightly different centering of the bolts in the rails, the bolts le and 17 being those more distant trom the respective rail ends. v

Though bolts 15 and 16 do not themselves engage the rail webs they are effective to support `the rails against pressure and impact due to the passage of trains since they hold the splice bars tightly against the rails and,

in particular against the under sides of the rail heads. y y

l may secure this greater clearance in any suitable way, as by making the perfoi'ations 19, .and 2() larger lthan perlorations 18 and f 21or by Vmaking the bolts 'l5 and oifsuitably smaller diameter and oit corres poudingly better material than that of the bolts 1d and 17, as 'for example using smaller bolt-s of al loy steel adjacent the rail endsand bolts of Ynormal size of carbon steel tui-ther away from the rail ends, or may give' the bolts a spacing such that the rearward bolts engage s their hole edges toward the rail ends before such engagement by the bolts 15 and 1G atthe rail ends. y

1n the former" Figure d; 1 place a bolt 27 at the middle of the splice bars and between the abutting rail ends which are suitably recessed at 28and 29- so as to pass the bolt.

1n Figures 3 and 4 1 show splice bars that have respectively our and three bolts. Obviously the number of bolts may be increased to any desired number and in Figures 5 and G l show oints respectively like those of rails are supported by the bolts less near` the rail ends and the resultant stresses in the rail webs are sufficiently removed from the rail enf s to be no longer avcausc forrail fail,-

iiies at the bolt holes that are closely adjacent the i'ail ends. The result is a materially increased life ttor the i'ails. s

lnview `oilI my invention and .disclosure variations and modifications to meet individual whim or ,particularrneedgwill. doubtless become evident to others skilled in thel art, to obtain all or part of the benefits of my invention without copying thestructure shown, and therefore, claim all such in so far as they fall within the reasonablespirit and scope of my invention.` s s Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure'by lLetters Patent is :-V

1. The method otreducing breakage of j rails at rail joints using splice bars due to stresses incident to engagement of the bolt hole walls .in the rail ends against the bolts which consists in relieving the bolt or bolts supporting the splice bars againstthe rails close to the rail ends from rail tension engagement and taking this rail tension engagement at points farther from the rail ends. j Y

2. The method of avoiding a rail strain or breakage at an eXtreme rail endand'atl a splice bar joint having splice bars and'having bolts at dilerentdistancesfrom the rail Y end, which consists in avoiding engagement between the rail web and the bolt that is nearest the rail end by supporting the ten# Vsion i'ioi'ces upon the rail upon the bolt or bolts Yfurther away 'from the rail end.v

.ln a railroad, a splice bar joint between adjoiningrails and coinliirisingsplice bars bolted together upon opposite sides of the rails across the rail ends in which the bolts pass through the rail webs andthe bolt` olf Verse stress first-from the rails before vthe bolts nearer to the rail ends in order to locate longitudinal tension upon the rail Webs primarily further from each rail end than the -5 first bolt hole.

5. In a rail joint, a pair of rail ends, splice bars on opposite sides of these ends, a bolt supporting the splice bars laterally against the rail ends at the ends of the ralsand free from transverse engagement by the rails and 10 other bolts supporting the splice bars laterally against the rails at a distance from the rail ends and with which the rails tensionally engage.

EUGENE W. oARUTHEEs'. 

